WHO ARE YOU?

In class this past Sunday, the teens were studying the life of Stephen. I have spent the past couple of days since then looking at his life more closely. We aren't given very much information about Stephen in the Bible, and yet, the information we are given speaks volumes. Acts 6 & 7 comprise his life story. Acts 6:3 tells us that Stephen was chosen, essentially as the first deacon of the NT church, because he was a man of “good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom”. Then verse 5 tells us he was a man “full of faith and the Holy Spirit”. Wow! He wasn't mentioned in the Bible as a good guy or a nice guy. He was labeled as “full of the Holy Spirit”, wise, “full of faith”, and of “good reputation”. That is some description!

Being “full of the Holy Spirit” or filled with the Spirit is a biblical command. Eph. 5:18 tells us to be “filled with the Holy Spirit”. This is an ongoing, daily reality that God wants in our lives. It is the Spirit controlling every aspect of my daily living, not my fleshly desires controlling my daily living.

Spirit-controlled living (being filled by the Spirit) goes hand in hand with wisdom which is the application of biblical truth. For a person to have the label of “ a wise man/woman” they would need to be daily applying biblical truth to their lives. We will only be productive at applying biblical truth when the Spirit is in control of our choices, decision, and thought processes.
When we are living biblical truth through the filling of the Spirit it impacts our faith. Heb. 11:1 explains that faith is “the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen”. We have a God-given assurance of our future reality. This is a trust in God for Who He says He is and what He says He can and will do!

We see a building of these principles toward the climax of our reputation. As we are filled with the Holy Spirit, we apply the truth of God's Word in our lives because we believe it and Him. This builds my faith. This then impacts my reputation. Reputation is “the general estimation in which a person is held by others”. (Webster's Dictionary) The Bible tells us in Prov.20:11 that “even children are known by their actions...” and then in Matt.7:16 Jesus said that false teachers will be “known by their fruit”. Actions or fruit are the by-product of Who or what is controlling us. We allow control of our lives from that which we believe or accept as truth. When the Spirit is in control of our lives our reputation with look like Gal. 5:22-23.

All of this then begs the question: How would people describe you? Would your reputation look like Stephen's in the Bible or would it look more self-serving and self-absorbed? May we all strive to have a reputation like Stephen's!

New Video Blog!

Propitation - by Steve Fulton

Propitiation (PRO-PI-TI-A-TION.) To find peace with an offended party by offering restitution.  Seat of mercy.

1Jn 4:10  In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

God gave Sue and me two male children.  The oldest took nearly a full day to work his way into the world.  The youngest rushed into the world in what seemed but a few minutes—tearing, breaking and stretching everything he passed on the way.

The oldest recognized his hopelessness without a Savior when he was only four years old.  The youngest struggled to give Jesus his rightful place into his late teens.

There were times when I had to apply the board of education (a wooden spoon) to the seat of knowledge (you know what I mean).  The oldest began to cry when I went for the spoon.  I did not need to discipline him very often.  For the youngest, the cost of punishment was less important than establishing his right to act any way he pleased (and we struggled often).

I can remember a time when the two brothers were fighting.  I asked them who started it.  Each said the other brother was responsible.  In my heart, I knew it was the younger; but, I paddled them both.  The older brother was hurt.  The younger brother was celebrating in the fact that he had not born the punishment alone.

That’s how it is with Jesus and me.  God is holy.  I am a sinner.  God demanded a payment for my sin that I could not pay.  When the time for my punishment came, God reached over and paddled Jesus.  I was free.

Wait!!  It is worse than that!!  I am no better than the lowliest creature in the universe.  Unlike me, snails, slugs, leeches, and mosquitoes are without sin.  I deserve to live in a land of mud, mire, darkness and ooze--A place where Scripture says there is only darkness, burning, wailing, and gnashing of teeth.

And Jesus!!  Jesus is neither mere man nor good brother.  He is the creator of all things on heaven and earth, natural and supernatural, invisible and seen, physical and spiritual.  And, he created them for his own pleasure and to glorify God the Father.  He is co-equal with God and the completion of His love.

His punishment was no mere spanking.  Scripture says no man was ever treated as badly as he was.  His body was so marred that he didn’t look human.  And, instead of looking on his death with kindness, God turned His back on Jesus.

So, remember, the next time you are discouraged, “The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.”  Believe it.  And rejoice. He is the propitiation for our sins.

Really, really bad worship.

Here are a couple of videos of where we are NOT headed in worship!! Someone will answer at the Bema for this!

Here are the links...
"80's style dance" Worship
"Stinky" Worship
Jesus is My Friend - "funky" Worship

Enjoy...or weep...but pray for these people. Some crowns were certainly lost!

Geeking out about God!

Sometimes God just blows my mind! There is certainly an aspect where God amazes me daily as I consider, the big things; His grace, mercy, long suffering. These are awesome truths about the cross that humble and amaze me. But sometimes God blows me away with the small things...when He evidences His sovereignty in the little details of life. This week God blessed me in some amazing ways. Let me explain...



I listen to preaching on a daily basis. I podcast a number of guys (Chuck Swindoll, Mark Driscoll, Steve Viars) but I end up listening to Dr. James MacDonald, the pastor at Harvest Bible Chapel, almost every day. This week, I downloaded several messages from the Straight Up! Pastor's Conference the church put on recently. Keep in mind, this was "random." I saw the link and was just amazed and, might I add, greatly pleased to see they offered the MP3's for FREE! So I was listen to Joe Stowell preach a great sermon on the call of God and how life is ALL ABOUT being a follower of Jesus Christ. After the message, I turned to studying my text for Sunday's sermon; James 4:13-17. As I was reading the passage and thinking through the message, God blew me away! The text is REALLY all about...being a follower of Jesus Christ! James is saying, "Don't' be all about making a profit...be all about OBEDIENCE to the LORD (as the Lord wills)." Man! God had just filled my heart with that truth through the "random" choice of a podcast! And listening to that message will add a new depth to my sermon preparation!


So the next morning I'm sitting down for my devotions. Currently I'm working through the Psalms via a book by Nancy Lee Demoss. That morning Ps. 90 was the focus. Ps. 90 is all about the brevity of human of life and we are told to "number our days (vs. 12)". Then it dawns on me...James 4:14 is all about the brevity of human life..."our life is but a vapor." Wow! I mean, how AWESOME is God to give me that text to study! Again, doing this study on Ps. 90 will add depth to my message!

There's more...

Later that day I'm reading the Pastor's blog over at Harvest Bible chapel. There was post about determinism vs. non-determinism...how much does God really control when it comes to suffering? How much does His will impact our lives? So as I'm pondering through the theological ramifications for either view once again it hits me. James 4:15 is all about God's will! This pondering, though seemingly at "random" is going to help me in my sermon prep!

I didn't plan all this...but MY GOD did. He put a number of seemingly "random" things together just for me to enrich my study and to maximize my time. I suppose some "Non-determinist" will say it's just the course of life. I guess I'm a little more about God doing it all (Eph. 1:11). My GOD is in control of everything and when He works things out like He did this week it makes me feel loved and cared for. And it brings Him glory! And I want to be all about that!